Our thirteen-month-old grand daughter brought a smile to us Sunday morning. Apparently, she has learned to command “Alexa” to play. “Alexa” is a modern invention of Amazon to do jobs around the house from turning on lights to monitoring entrances to homes and notifying homeowners. So, when Delsie commanded Alexa, […]
Jim Cumming – From the Publisher Emeritus’ Pen
Jim is the former publisher of the Fort Frances Times Ltd. He writes a weekly column and can be contacted at jcumming@fortfrances.com
Suppose we look at our past and review all of our traditions and the way we lived. Now think of today. The pandemic has wiped our slate clean. We have a blank sheet of paper in front of us to work on the future. Who would have imagined that we […]
We are now into the Christmas season. There are signs of hope for people around the world. Pfizer and Moderna both announced successful trials of vaccines to prevent getting the COVID virus. Even though the trials have been successful, receiving final approval to distribute the vaccines will take several months. […]
As you are reading this, it is time to think about Remembrance Days past. I have stood at the Cenotaph in Fort Frances when a bitterly cold west wind drove up from the river and we shivered in the cold wet snow as taps were played. I could feel the […]
When we were growing up, Christmas was heralded by the arrival of the Sears Wish Book and the Easton’s Christmas catalogue. Every Christmas dream began there. Both catalogues are now long gone, and children are now tempted by television commercials and Facebook posts. Before the lockdown, social distancing and other […]
I have never been invited into so many homes as I have been since the COVID virus struck across the world. I have been giving a glimpse into how people decorate and furnish their homes. I have been able to discern what their reading habits are. On MSNBC, Senator Claire […]
In only one week, most of the leaves have fallen to the forest floor. The bright yellows, oranges and reds have again disappeared from our landscapes. The sun does not arrive above the horizon until almost eight in the morning and disappears shortly after 6:30 in the evening. We are […]
As I write this, it is Thanksgiving Day. For Canadians it is much different than previous Thanksgivings. For Marnie and myself, we are in Calgary celebrating our granddaughter’s first birthday, which coincides with the Thanksgiving long weekend. For most families across Canada, the traditional gatherings of families and friends around […]
Many Canadians are suffering from “Covid Fatigue”. None of us expected that social distancing, family bubbles, facial masks and self isolation would go beyond a few months. We were all ready to agree to the terms proposed by Health Canada officials and provincial health authorities for several months beginning in […]
I often compare our Canadian governing system to that of the United States. We follow a parliamentary system whereas the United States is a Republic Style of government. In Canada, the governing party – whether Liberal, Conservative or New Democratic – governs by having either a coalition of two or […]
The season is changing. The hot sunny days of July and August have cooled into more moderate temperatures that have brought us almost through September. Having spent the last week at the lake, I woke each sunny day to see a different picture-perfect shoreline view. The paper birch leaves were […]
I planted a garden this year just like many others in this pandemic year. It was not a large garden measuring a scant three feet by eight feet. It was a raised garden so that I didn’t have to bend over to weed or pick vegetables. The rows of radishes, […]
